<a href="http://assets.inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/01/800px-Andes_bolivianos.jpg"></a>
According to a study published in the journal <a href="http://www.the-cryosphere.net/7/81/2013/tc-7-81-2013.html" target="_blank">Cryosphere</a>, <a href="http://inhabitat.com/iceberg-twice-the-size-of-manhattan-breaks-off-greenland-glacier/" target="_blank">glaciers</a> in the tropical Andes have shrunk by a whopping 30 to 50 percent since the 1970s.The researchers report that the glaciers are retreating at their fastest rate in the last 300 years as a consequence of <a href="http://inhabitat.com/global-warming/">global warming</a>, and that at the current rate ice sheets at lower altitudes may completely disappear — which could cause water shortages in communities across South America.
<a href="http://assets.inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/01/800px-Glacier_Outlet_Southern_Patagonian_Ice_Field_Chile.jpg"></a>
Researchers found that lower-lying <a href="http://inhabitat.com/rio20-climate-change-damage-could-cost-latin-america-100-billion-per-year/" target="_blank">South American</a> glaciers—those below 5,400 meters—have seen an annual decrease in ice thickness of 1....<br><br><a href='http://inhabitat.com/melting-of-andean-glaciers-could-cause-a-continental-water-crisis-in-south-america/'>READ ARTICLE</a>

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Andean Glacier

<a href="http://assets.inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/01/800px-Andes_bolivianos.jpg"></a>
According to a study published in the journal <a href="http://www.the-cryosphere.net/7/81/2013/tc-7-81-2013.html" target="_blank">Cryosphere</a>, <a href="http://inhabitat.com/iceberg-twice-the-size-of-manhattan-breaks-off-greenland-glacier/" target="_blank">glaciers</a> in the tropical Andes have shrunk by a whopping 30 to 50 percent since the 1970s.The researchers report that the glaciers are retreating at their fastest rate in the last 300 years as a consequence of <a href="http://inhabitat.com/global-warming/">global warming</a>, and that at the current rate ice sheets at lower altitudes may completely disappear — which could cause water shortages in communities across South America.
<a href="http://assets.inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/01/800px-Glacier_Outlet_Southern_Patagonian_Ice_Field_Chile.jpg"></a>
Researchers found that lower-lying <a href="http://inhabitat.com/rio20-climate-change-damage-could-cost-latin-america-100-billion-per-year/" target="_blank">South American</a> glaciers—those below 5,400 meters—have seen an annual decrease in ice thickness of 1....<br><br><a href='http://inhabitat.com/melting-of-andean-glaciers-could-cause-a-continental-water-crisis-in-south-america/'>READ ARTICLE</a>

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Andean Glacier

According to a study published in the journal Cryosphere, glaciers in the tropical Andes have shrunk by a whopping 30 to 50 percent since the 1970s.The researchers report that the glaciers are retreating at their fastest rate in the last 300 years as a consequence of global warming, and that at the current rate ice sheets at lower altitudes may completely disappear — which could cause water shortages in communities across South America.
Researchers found that lower-lying South American glaciers—those below 5,400 meters—have seen an annual decrease in ice thickness of 1....